Prey (2022)

July 21, 2022 (San Diego Comic-Con)August 5, 2022 (United States)

July 21, 2022 (San Diego Comic-Con)
August 5, 2022 (United States)

Prey is a 2022 American science fiction film in the Predator franchise. It serves as a prequel to previous films, being set in the Northern Great Plains in 1719. The film is directed by Dan Trachtenberg and written by Patrick Aison. It stars Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers, Dane DiLiegro, Michelle Thrush, Stormee Kipp, Julian Black Antelope, and Bennett Taylor. The story revolves around a young Comanche woman, Naru, who is striving to prove herself as a hunter. She finds herself having to protect her people from a vicious, humanoid alien that hunts humans for sport, as well as from French fur traders who are destroying the buffalo they rely on for survival.

Development of the film began during the production of The Predator (2018), when producer John Davis was approached by Trachtenberg and Aison, with a concept that they had been developing since 2016. In late 2020, the film's title was revealed to be the codename for the fifth installment in the franchise. Filming took place around Calgary during the summer of 2021, with most of the film being filmed in English, with some sequences being shot in Comanche and French as well. A full Comanche language dub was provided for the film, with the cast reprising their roles, thus making it the first feature film to do so.

Prey premiered at San Diego Comic-Con on July 21, 2022, and was released by 20th Century Studios as a Hulu original film in the United States and on Disney+ and Star internationally on August 5. The film received positive reviews from critics.

Storyline

In 1719 in the Great Plains, Naru, a young Comanche woman trained as a healer, dreams of becoming a great hunter like her brother Taabe. While tracking deer she witnesses strange lights in the sky, which she believes to be a Thunderbird and a sign she is ready to become a hunter, but is actually the dropship for an alien hunter. Later Puhi, a warrior of the tribe, is taken by a cougar. Naru accompanies the search party, which tracks and finds Puhi near death. She tends Puhi's wounds and gives him an herb called orange totsiyaa, which lowers his body temperature to slow his bleeding. Naru returns with the search party and Puhi while Taabe stays behind to hunt the cougar. Finding large, unusual tracks and a skinned rattlesnake, Naru circles back with Paake and reunites with Taabe. The three set a trap for the cougar but it kills Paake.

Naru faces off with the cougar but is knocked unconscious when she is distracted by a loud roar and lights in the distance. She awakens at home, having been carried back by Taabe. He later returns to the village carrying the animal, earning him the title of War Chief. Convinced of a greater threat in the woods, Naru departs with her dog Sarii. She stumbles into a bog pit and narrowly escapes before being attacked by a grizzly bear. The bear corners her but is then killed by the alien hunter, giving Naru time to escape before running into a group of Comanche sent to find her. The hunter, which Naru dubs a "Mupitsi" after Pia Mupitsi ('Mother owl') a monster in Comanche folklore, ambushes and kills the men in combat, while Naru is caught in a foothold trap.

French voyageurs find and cage Naru and Sarii. Their interpreter, Raphael Adolini, questions Naru about the Mupitsi, whom the Frenchmen have encountered before. When she refuses to talk, the lead voyageur reveals that he has Taabe captive and tortures him before using both siblings as bait for the Mupitsi, which the French are intent on capturing. The Mupitsi kills most of the Frenchmen while Taabe and Naru escape. Naru rescues Sarii from the camp and stumbles across a dying Raphael, who teaches her how to use his flintlock pistol in exchange for treatment for his severed leg. Naru gives him the orange totsiyaa, which staunches his bleeding and lowers his body temperature. When the Mupitsi arrives, Raphael plays dead. Naru realizes that, due to his reduced heat, the Mupitsi cannot see him. After it accidentally steps on Raphael, he screams and is killed.

Taabe arrives on horseback to rescue Naru. Together they weaken the Mupitsi, but it kills Taabe. Naru flees and finds the surviving lead voyageur. She captures him and uses him as bait. Consuming the orange totsiyaa to hide her body heat, she uses Raphael's pistol to ambush the Mupitsi after it has killed the voyageur, knocking off its mask, which she knows is used to direct its spear gun. She steals the device and lures the Mupitsi into the bog, where she positions the mask to face the pit. She battles the Mupitsi, which becomes mired in the bog. It fires the spear gun at Naru and misses; the mask guides the projectile back to the Mupitsi, killing it. Naru severs its head and paints her face with its glowing green blood. She returns with its head to her village, where she is declared the new War Chief. Naru informs her tribe that it is time for them to move.

During the beginning of the closing credits, the narrative is summarized in a series of ledger art paintings that ends with a depiction of three of the hunter's brethren's alien vessels descending towards the tribe.

Also See

Sound Effects Used

Image Gallery

Audio Samples

External Links